Sweet Cherries (Prunus avium) and Sour Cherries (Prunus cerasus) share their genus with plums, apricots, peaches, nectarines, and almonds. These plants are in the Rosaceae family, along with strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, quinces, apples, pears.
It is believed that cherries originated in the area between the Black and Caspian Seas in Asia Minor. A cultivated cherry is recorded as having been brought to Rome by Lucius Licinius Lucullus from northeastern Anatolia, in 72 BC
